German media group Axel Springer said on Friday it had agreed to buy Britain’s Telegraph Media Group for 575 million pounds ($766.3 million) in cash, ending a long period of uncertainty over the paper’s ownership.
The agreement’s gatecrash Daily Mail owns DMGT’s bid to buy its broadside rival, which had faced regulatory scrutiny in the UK over media pluralism concerns.
Axel Springer said it would maintain Telegraphs legacy, while providing a platform for expansion, including in the US, and reaffirmed its commitment to “high-quality independent journalism” and media pluralism in the UK.
After purchase Political in a deal worth around $1 billion in 2021 Telegraph The purchase will be Axel Springer’s second largest investment since its founding in 1946, following an earlier failed attempt to acquire the paper in 2004.
‘Fast and efficient’ negotiations
Mathias Dopfner, Axel Springer’s CEO, said to own Telegraph was “a privilege and a duty”.
He said the group aimed to grow the title while preserving its character and helping it become “the most widely read and intellectually inspiring centre-right media in the English-speaking world”.
He acknowledged Telegraph staff had faced an extended period of uncertainty and said the publisher intended to “bring this uncertainty to an end”.
The company credited New York Sun publisher Dovid Efune for his support in the deal.
Efune led a consortium with Axel Springer to bid for the titles last month, but Axel Springer closed the deal alone.
RedBird IMI said it was pleased to have reached an agreement following “quick and efficient” negotiations.
“With the strength of their commercial offering and a straightforward regulatory path to ownership, we believe that Axel Springer is well placed to take Telegraph on to the next chapter,” RedBird said in a statement.
The companies said they were now working with the UK government to obtain the necessary approvals.
Culture Minister Lisa Nandy’s decision last month to issue a public interest interference notice sent DMGT’s deal to regulators, who are examining the implications for media plurality and competition.
Nandy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prolonged ownership dispute
The deal brings to an end a saga that began in June 2023, when Lloyds Banking Group effectively took over Telegraph after long-time owners, the Barclay family fell into arrears on around £1.2bn of debt secured against the newspaper group.
RedBird IMI took control after paying off a £600m loan to Lloyds, but the titles remained in limbo as Britain moved to block foreign state involvement in national newspapers, forcing it to reverse course.
American investment firm RedBird Capital Partners then tried to buy the group, with Abu Dhabi-backed IMI taking a minority position, but the deal collapsed in November 2025.
The bid had been restructured to comply with new rules limiting foreign state ownership to 15%, but was withdrawn after a slower-than-expected regulatory process and internal opposition from senior Telegraph speech from the editors.
